Shorelines surrounding many bodies of water have become unhealthy in recent years. The unhealthy nature of shorelines, such as shorelines surrounding ponds and lakes have suffered due to many reasons such as residential and commercial development, increased amounts of runoff dues to non-permeable surfaces, loss and removal of native shoreline vegetation, and many other reasons.
Unhealthy shorelines often result in deteriorating water conditions that are harmful to aquatic life. Absent healthy shorelines, silt, nitrates, phosphates, and other soluble and particulate matter are often able to flow unrestricted in bodies of water. These bodies of water may fill with silt and particulate matter, which may damage the ecosystem for aquatic life. Aquatic ecosystems may also be damaged, or otherwise altered form a healthy state, increasing algae growth and other invasive plants and aquatic life to flourish. The result is often an unhealthy body of water that not only disrupts or destroys naturally occurring aquatic ecosystems, but also disrupts recreation and other uses of these altered bodies of water.